


Parent Milkovich to the Rescue

by Dragon_in_Disguise



Series: Lip Gallagher x Mickey Milkovich Stories [13]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Bisexual Lip Gallagher, Childbirth, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Good Parent Mickey Milkovich, Helpful Mickey Milkovich, Ian Gallagher & Mickey Milkovich are Best Friends, Light Angst, M/M, Parent Ian Gallagher, Parent Mickey Milkovich, Parenthood, Protective Lip Gallagher, Season/Series 10, Soft Mickey Milkovich, Tired Lip Gallagher, seriously let this man sleep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:55:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27687235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragon_in_Disguise/pseuds/Dragon_in_Disguise
Summary: Tami finally has her and Lip's baby, and with her stuck in the hospital, Lip needs help adapting to parenthood. He turns to the only person he knows that can help - Mickey.
Relationships: Ian Gallagher & Mickey Milkovich, Lip Gallagher & Freddie Gallagher, Lip Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich, Mickey Milkovich & Freddie Gallagher
Series: Lip Gallagher x Mickey Milkovich Stories [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695643
Comments: 3
Kudos: 46





	Parent Milkovich to the Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> I went all out for this fic I'm not even gonna lie. My favorite version of this fic is when Mickey and Ian are best friends and most of the events that took place in the show still do, but are changed to fit the ship. Sort of like my previous stories "It'll Be Okay, I promise," "Don't Do This," and "Reunion" (all found within this series). I originally wrote this to fit the prompt of Mickey helping Lip with Fred, but I added more to fit the main storyline I one day want to write (a complete retelling where they're together instead of Ian and Mickey in a multi-chapter story - let me know if y'all are interested in that!)
> 
> Anyways, enjoy this fic! I had a lot of fun writing it now that I finally started s10.

“Come on, kiddo, let’s go see daddy Kev and mommy V,” Mickey says, opening the door to the Alibi, gently leading his son in. Yevgeny grips three of Mickey’s fingers, looking around curiously until he spots Veronica and Kev behind the counter, a wide grin splitting onto his face. 

“Oh, look at you!” Veronica grins, setting down the glasses she was cleaning and moving around the counter. Yevgeny drops Mickey’s hand and half runs, half wobbles up to her, reaching up for her with a giggle. Veronica scoops him up and smiles, planting a loud kiss against his cheek. “Starting to look a lot like your daddy, huh?”

Mickey rolls his eyes, taking a seat at the bar next to Tommy. “Hope not.”

“Hey, little man,” Kev says, ruffling Yevgeny’s hair. 

Veronica kisses his cheek again before setting him down, gesturing to the stairs. “Your sisters are upstairs. Go play with them.”

“‘Kay!” Yevgeny says, doing his weird stumble run for the stairs and disappearing up there. Mickey watches him until he hears the door close upstairs, nodding in satisfaction at not seeing his son break his neck falling down the stairs. 

“I’m still confused on this whole… family thing,” Kermit comments, looking between the three. “Especially since Lip is somehow involved… with a pregnant girlfriend?”

“Not his girlfriend,” Mickey chimes in. 

Veronica huffs, gesturing between her and Kev. “We’re together. Svetlana is married to that old rich guy. Mickey and Lip are dating. We all share custody of the kids, except Mickey. He only has Yevgeny.”

“Thank fuck, too,” Mickey shakes his head. “And Tami is some girl he knocked up while we were on break. They both plan on raising the kid and she’s cool with me helping out or whatever. Probably cause I already got a kid.”

“Wait wait, Lip knocked up a girl while you two were on a break?” Tommy asks.

“You two took a break?” Kermit asks as well. 

Mickey rolls his eyes. “This was literally almost a year ago, how do you two not know about this?”

“You never talk about your love or sex life with us,” Kev chimes in. “Kind of hard to keep up.” 

Mickey rolls his eyes. “Yeah, we took a fucking break. We both had family shit going on and it was stressing us both out. Put a huge fucking dent in our relationship.” 

Kermit frowns. “Weren’t you mad he knocked up that Tami chick?”

Mickey shrugs. “I fucked two guys on our break. Fucking sucked but whatever. He’s just too used to not wearing a fucking condom he knocked a chick up.”

“Ugh, TMI,” Veronica groans. 

“Just sayin’.” 

Tommy shakes his head. “Whatever floats your boat. Hey, speaking of-”

He stops when Mickey’s phone starts ringing. Mickey tugs it out, humming when he sees Lip’s contact. He slides off of his stool and takes a few steps away, answering the call with a slight smile. “Hey, man, what’s up?”

“Uh hey! So, uh, Tami went into labor and I’m kind of freaking out,” Lip rambles, sounding rushed. “I’m in the lobby trying to fill shit out and I don’t know what the fuck any of this means. They won’t tell me anything about Tami.” 

“Shit,” Mickey breathes out, quickly turning for the stairs. “Yev, come down here!” he calls up before putting the phone back to his ear. “Hospital downtown, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m on my way,” he tells him. “Sit tight and stay calm and whatever other cliche sayings you can think of.” 

That gets Lip to laugh, just a tad bit strained. “Got it. Hurry.” 

“Will do,” Mickey nods, tucking his phone away when they hang up. Yevgeny hops off the last step, his sisters right behind him. Mickey scoops Yevgeny up in his arms, bouncing him a bit as he heads for the door. “Gotta go. Tami went into labor and Lip is freaking out.”

“No shit?” Kev gasps. 

“I’ll keep you updated!” Mickey shouts before the door closes, walking out into the busy street. Yevgeny giggles and pokes at his cheek while Mickey starts walking, wondering how fast he can get to the hospital on foot. If he were running, he’d get there in no time, but he’d probably look a little shady running with a child in hand, especially since he’s a known Milkovich. He’ll power-walk for now. 

“Daddy, where we going?” Yevgeny asks after a bit, big blue eyes staring at strangers walking past them curiously. 

“We’re going to see papa Lip at the hospital,” Mickey says softly. “His kid is being born.” 

Yevgeny grins. “Sibling?”

“Sure,” Mickey hums. “Might get a brother or maybe another sister.” 

“Yes!” Yevgeny claps, knocking his head against Mickey’s happily. Mickey chuckles and ruffles his hair, looking down the road before crossing the street. He’s a bit more careful when he has a kid on his hip. 

Lip is still in the lobby when Mickey finally arrives at the hospital, Yevgeny’s excited call catching his attention quickly. “Hey, hey!” Lip sighs in relief, walking up to him and kissing him quickly. “Fuck, I’m like seriously freaking out right now.” 

“I can tell considering you said ‘like,’” Mickey chuckles, setting Yevgeny down. “They say anything?”

“No, nothing,” Lip sighs heavily, looking down at the papers still blank. “Do you know what any of this shit means?”

“Let me see,” Mickey takes the clipboard from him, looking it over. Lip managed to answer the basic shit - emails, names, phone numbers, etc. Seems like all of Tami’s information with the insurance and registration forms are what Lip doesn’t know. “Okay, so you might need to call up one of her family members or something cause-”

“Are you with Miss Tamietti?” a nurse interrupts him, making both men look up. 

Lip blinks dumbly for a moment. “Yeah, I am.”

“Get your ass in here,” she states, gesturing for him to follow quickly. 

Lip gaps at her, shooting Mickey a look before he follows after her. Mickey watches them go, clicking his tongue and looking down at the paperwork. Guess he could try and fill this out. 

“He is such a cutie,” Cami says with a grin, watching Yevgeny run from chair to chair, poking everybody in the leg with a giggle before moving on to the next victim. Mickey hums in agreement. “He yours or adopted?”

“Sadly, he’s mine,” Mickey sighs, reaching out to tickle Yevgeny when he runs up to poke him. Yevgeny laughs and quickly scampers out of his reach, running into the arms of Brad. “He’s basically got five parents at this point.” 

“Christ,” Cami laughs. “I’ll ask about that later.” 

Mickey hums, looking up when Tami’s other sister Cory walks over, handing him the clipboard. “There - all filled out. Just need Lip’s signature.” 

“Got it,” Mickey nods, taking the pen and writing out Lip’s name. The others shoot him a confused look, making him shrug. “Learned his signature.” 

“Makes sense,” Cory sighs, sitting down next to Cami. “So, you’re the infamous boyfriend of my niece or nephew’s father?”

“Could say that,” Mickey shrugs, checking over the papers to make sure everything’s filled out. 

The two sisters share a look before Cory speaks again. “I’m a bit shocked since the whole pregnancy thing-”

“We were on a break,” Mickey says quickly, taking notice of the fact Tami’s family doesn’t seem to know much about him and Lip. Why should they anyway? “I don’t hold it against him.”

“Oh,” Cami looks genuinely surprised and Mickey resists the urge to roll his eyes. “So you’re okay with all of this?”

Mickey shoots them an irritated look. “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.” 

They seem to back down at his look, earning another look of annoyance from Brad. Mickey likes Brad - he helped Lip out a whole lot when he was falling into his alcoholic stages and got him a job at that motorcycle shop. Mickey will forever be thankful. 

As Mickey hands the paperwork off to the front desk lady, Lip comes through the door in his doctor scrubs the nurse gave him, looking a bit shell-shocked as he approaches the family. “Hey, everybody, it’s a boy.”

“Oh, my!” Cami smiles widely and claps excitedly. 

“Boy!” Yevgeny says in Brad’s arms, wiggling excitedly. 

Mickey grins, coming up to Lip’s side to give his congrats, but pauses when he sees the look on Lip’s face. Tami’s father speaks first. “And Tami?”

Lip swallows. “Um, yeah… she needed an emergency C-section. Um, there were some complications… bleeding. S-She’s still in the OR.”

“Oh, fuck,” Mickey breathes out. 

Cami’s smile is completely gone. “But she’s gonna be okay, right?”

“I don’t know,” Lip’s voice softens. “I mean, they wouldn’t tell me anything else.”

“Well go find the fuck out!” Cami snaps, taking a few steps closer to get into Lip’s face. 

Mickey moves between them a bit, holding a hand up to keep her at a better distance. Tami’s father does the same, quickly grabbing her shoulder before she can get any closer. “Okay, okay. She’s in surgery, Cami. They’ll let us know how she is as soon as they have something to tell us.”

“Mr. Tamietti?” the nurse from earlier walks through the doors, looking at Lip. 

“Yes?” Tami’s father speaks up. 

Lip quickly moves forward. “Sorry, I think she actually means me. I’ll come back as soon as I know anything, alright?” And with that, he’s past the doors and out of sight. 

Mickey sighs, running a hand through his hair. The rest of the family is quiet, some sinking back down into their chairs and looking at each other worriedly. Brad sets Yevgeny down who runs up to hug Mickey’s leg, giggling and completely unaware of the worry spreading like a wildfire through everyone. 

Mickey smiles tightly and ruffles his son’s hair. 

“Mr. Milkovich?” a new nurse - a dude this time - comes through the doors, looking around at the family for the man in question. Mickey looks up at the call, gently shifting Yevgeny in his arms so he can stand. The nurse spots him and walks closer, keeping his voice low at the sight of the sleeping kid. “Come with me, please.” 

“Sure,” he nods slowly, glancing back at the others before following. “Is something wrong?”

“Not at all,” he says, leading him down the halls. “Mr. Gallagher requested for you to be here.”

“Oh,” Mickey murmurs, rubbing Yevgeny’s back. The nurse finally stops at a partly opened door, smiling and gesturing for Mickey to go inside. He steps inside and nearly melts at the sight, unable to fight the smile that grows on his face. “Oh shit.” 

“Shh,” Lip says softly with his own smile, nodding for Mickey to come closer. He’s holding his baby son in his hands, all bundled up with a small beanie on his head. Mickey moves to Lip’s side, peering down at the newborn with a soft grin. “Shit, look at him. He’s got your eyes.”

“I know,” Lip whispers, looking down at his son with such a loving expression. 

Mickey looks down when he feels Yevgeny stir, holding a finger to his lips when Yevgeny lifts his head. “Shh. Look who’s here.” 

Yevgeny blinks dumbly for a moment before looking where Mickey is pointing, eyes lighting up at the sight of the baby boy. He gasps softly and grins, looking at Mickey excitedly. “Brother?”

“Yeah,” Mickey laughs softly. He sets Yevgeny down and kneels down next to Lip’s chair, setting a hand on his arm. “How’s Tami?”

“Dunno,” Lip answers quietly, his face falling. “Still in surgery.” 

Mickey nods, sighing softly. He and Tami may not get along too well, but he is worried about her. Poor woman was scared to death about having a child for a bit and the two parents clashed multiple times about it. Only once did Mickey side with Tami - telling Lip it ultimately comes down to her decision on what happens with the baby. Lip gave him the silent treatment for a good two hours before he caved and agreed. 

He rubs Lip’s arm comfortingly, turning his gaze back to the newborn. The baby coos softly, looking up at the two men curiously. Lip’s smile is back, murmuring soft “Hey”s and rocking him gently. Mickey smiles and leans his head against Lip’s bicep, watching Yevgeny stand on his tiptoes to look at the baby. 

“Everything will be okay,” he murmurs, squeezing Lip’s arm assuringly. 

Lip takes a deep breath and nods. “Okay…” 

“Mommy!” Yevgeny squeals, running into his mother’s waiting arms. “I have a brother!”

“Huh?” Svetlana makes a face, picking him up. 

“Lip’s kid was born,” Mickey explains, setting down Yevgeny’s backpack on her couch. “Y’know, Tami’s kid?”

“Right,” Svetlana nods, smiling a bit. “So boy?”

“Yes!” Yevgeny grins, wiggling excitedly in her arms. 

“Named him Fred,” Mickey says, looking around with a quirked brow. He honestly cannot blame Svetlana for marrying this old fuck - his place was huge and very expensive looking. This is the type of place he and his brothers would rob. He’s still considering it. “Should be bringing him home today.” 

“That’s nice,” Svetlana hums, looking at Yevgeny. “Did you have fun with daddy?”

“Yeah!” Yevgeny nods. “He bought me ice cream. Twice!”

“Hey, no one likes a snitch,” Mickey sneers, earning a stuck-out tongue in return. Svetlana shoots him an annoyed look. “What? I can spoil my kid.”

“You’re hopeless,” Svetlana huffs, setting him down. “Go say hi to Rubert.”

“Kay!” he says, running off. 

Mickey hums. “How long till your husband croaks?”

“Shut up,” she rolls her eyes. “If you could, you would get sugar daddy too.” 

“I would argue, but you’re probably not lying,” Mickey chuckles. “So, do I get him again next weekend?”

“If he wants,” she nods. “I’ll let you know.” 

“Great,” Mickey clears his throat, shooting her a quick smile. “Don’t forget to buy viagra.”

“Fuck off,” she rolls her eyes, shooing him towards the door. “Go back to your boyfriend, rainbow boy.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Mickey waves her off. “See you Friday.” 

“Knock knock,” Mickey warns as he comes through the front door of the Gallagher house. “I brought some KFC if you’re feeling- what the fuck?”

Lip looks up and grins sheepishly. “Uh… hey?”

Mickey gives him the classic “Milkovich what the fuck” look, pointing at the fake boobs his son is currently feeding on. “What the fuck, Lip? You know bottles are a thing, right?”

Lip huffs, stroking the baby’s head. “Tami wants it to be more natural or some shit like that.” 

“Fuck natural cause that’s the weirdest shit I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot of weird shit,” Mickey scoffs, setting the chicken down on the coffee table. “Of all the things I could’ve walked in on…”

“Sorry for the traumatizing experience, but I’m too tired to care too much,” Lip grins lightly. 

“Okay, smartass,” Mickey chuckles, leaning down and pecking his lips. “When’s the last time you slept?”

“Thirty-ish hours ago?” Lip sighs tiredly, looking down at the baby. “Little Fred here is hard to put down…”

“Fred?” Mickey hums. “Better than Yevgeny.”

Lip snorts, shooting him a look. “Thanks.” 

Mickey sits down next to him, running his fingers through Lip’s short hair. He smiles when Lip’s eyes flutter, leaning into his touch. “How’s Tami doing?”

“She’s got a bad infection,” Lip sighs, letting Mickey guide his head to rest against his shoulder. “Last I saw, she’s all jacked up on drugs. Lil’ touch and go…”

Mickey slides his palm from Lip’s head to his neck, squeezing gently. “She’ll be okay. She’s a strong chick. The type to get hit by a train and only walk off with a scratch.” 

Lip laughs lightly, stretching his neck a bit as Mickey starts massaging the skin. “I’m too tired to argue with that so I’ll just nod and smile.” 

“Good choice,” Mickey smiles, kissing his head. “Think Fred’s done.”

Lip blinks slowly and lifts his head, grinning down at the fussing baby. “Hey, you full? That’s good, that’s good…” He lifts Fred up to rest against his shoulder, patting his back gently. Mickey watches quietly, thinking back to when he first started taking care of Yevgeny. He was hardly any older than Fred, so tiny and frail at the time. Mickey remembers not wanting anything to do with him, and for good reason, but when Svetlana left him alone in the kitchen with his only son in his hands, he saw himself in his kid’s eyes. Yevgeny got Mickey’s blue eyes, so bright and full of life. Mickey’s were so dull for so long, and seeing those eyes, so innocent and fragile, he felt nothing but a need to protect the baby in his arms. He knew he had to do what his father never did for him. 

He missed Yevgeny’s birth, at the time wanting nothing to do with his wife and kid. Again, for good reason. He’s not sure if he regrets it or not, but he tries not to dwell on it too much. It already happened anyway. He has better memories anyway with his kid right now. 

He watches Lip work, lips pulled into a soft grin as Lip burps Fred, talking to him in that weird baby talk he and Svetlana never did because they both agreed it was a bit too weird. Lip makes it endearing though. 

“Uh, is his shit supposed to be black?” Mickey asks, watching in slight concern as Lip changes Fred’s diaper. 

“Uh- doctor said it’d be black at first,” Lip explains, trying to clean Fred up and, honestly, doing horrible at it. 

“The fuck you doing?” Mickey laughs a bit. “I thought you helped Fiona raise Liam and Carl when they were babies?”

“Been a while since I changed a diaper that wasn’t a garbage bag,” Lip mutters, puffing his cheeks out. “I got an idea.” 

Mickey’s eyebrows raise, watching Lip pick Fred up and carry him into the kitchen. Mickey shakes his head and stands, following after him. He leans against the fridge, lips quirked in amusement as Lip hovers Fred under the sink faucet and cleans off his butt with a sponge. “Father of the year right there,” he teases.

“Shut up,” Lip grumbles, drying Fred off. He lifts him up and grins. “See? Good as new.” Mickey rolls his eyes, walking with him back to the living room. Lip kisses Fred on the cheek before laying him back down on the coffee table, talking in that baby voice again. “Let’s get a new diaper on you then we can have our nap, okay?” He keeps one hand on Fred’s stomach to make sure he doesn’t roll away while the other hand searches through the baby bag next to him, muttering to himself before he pauses, seeming to pale. “The hospital only gave us one diaper.” 

“No shit?” Mickey scoffs, grabbing the bag to look himself. Yup, no more diapers. He huffs, tossing it aside. “Here, I’ll go buy a pack at the gas station around the corner. Take me twenty minutes, tops. Think you’ll last?”

“Yeah,” Lip says, shooting him a grateful smile. “Hear that, Freddie? Daddy Mick is gonna buy us some diapers.”

“Christ, okay, just stay awake and I’ll be back,” Mickey rolls his eyes, making sure he has his wallet before he plants a kiss on Lip’s cheek and heads out. 

As he guessed, it takes him barely twenty minutes to get back to the Gallagher house, two packs of diapers and wipes in hand since he felt Lip might need a few days before he himself can go buy more. He whistles to himself and is met with the sound of crying as he comes through the front door, eyebrows raised in surprise when he finds Fred lying on a bed of pillows screaming his tiny head off and no Lip around. 

Mickey sighs heavily, setting the bag of goodies aside and walking over to the newborn. Reminds him of when Yevgeny was just a baby, when his best friend went fucking manic and kidnapped him right from his home, when his crying first started and then faded with the slam of a door. 

Mickey shakes the memory from his mind, focusing on the problem at hand. He picks Fred up from the bed of pillows, huffing in amusement at the sight of the kid sporting a damn sanitary pad. Fucking hell, Lip. 

The baby continues to cry as Mickey takes a moment to switch the pad with an actual diaper, glancing around to see if his boyfriend had passed out somewhere nearby. He grumbles when he doesn’t see him, smoothing out the edges of the diaper and lifting Fred into his arms, leaning him against his shoulder and swaying gently. “Shh, shh…” he breathes out, rubbing the tiny back as comfortingly as he can. The cries die down to a few snuffles, tiny hands clenched into fists. Mickey finds it cute. 

He looks up when the front door opens, relaxing when he sees Veronica letting herself in. She opens her mouth to speak but is quick to notice the baby in Mickey’s arms, smiling widely as she comes closer. Mickey eyes the box she sets aside. “A bassinet?”

“A baby gift for Lip,” she explains, keeping her voice low as she watches Fred’s eyes droop. “Thought he could use one. Where is he?”

“Dunno. Think he passed out somewhere in the house,” Mickey hums. Veronica makes a face and Mickey doesn’t exactly blame her. While he may not have been involved at first, he quickly understood the pain of being a parent to a newborn. No wonder Svetlana looked tired all the damn time, desperately looking for someone to watch the baby so she can work and possibly sleep. When Mickey started to help, it became easier on her. He lost a few nights of sleep, but it wasn’t as awful as what Svetlana dealt with for a while. 

Veronica and Kev raised twins, which is an even bigger pain in the ass. Mickey recalls the countless times the two would go multiple nights with only two hours of sleep, maybe less. Their girls were demons. 

Seeing Lip pass out after being awake for over a day? Kind of weak, but not surprising. 

“Speak of the devil,” Veronica sighs, looking past Mickey. He turns and finds Lip stumbling out of the bathroom, rubbing his face tiredly with a soft groan. 

Mickey snorts. “Did you actually fall asleep on the toilet?”

Lip looks up and walks over quickly. “Uh- for like two seconds?”

“Way longer than two seconds,” Mickey chides softly. “Told you to stay awake.”

“I know,” Lip sighs, stroking Fred’s head gently. “I’m just… really tired.”

Veronica huffs out a laugh. “Welcome to parenthood.” She pats Mickey’s back and starts heading for the door. “You’re only supposed to wear one of those nicotine patches at a time.” 

Mickey looks at frowns at the multiple nicotine patches along Lip’s shoulders and chest. Looks like Lip’s attempt at stopping smoking might not be going so well. “Dude…”

“I know…” Lip sighs, pressing his temple to Mickey’s free shoulder. He looks two seconds from passing out again. 

“Hey, you need to put together that bassinet,” Mickey says quietly, cupping the back of his neck. “That way Fred can actually have a place to sleep.” 

Lip sighs heavily. “I’m tired, Mick…”

“I know, but you gotta put Fred first right now,” Mickey says, kissing the side of his head. “Come on, I’ll hold him so you can build the fucking thing.” 

Lip hesitates. “Okay.” 

Mickey stops by his house after grabbing dinner for him and Lip, grabbing a handful of clothes since he plans on staying for the next few days to lend Lip a hand with being a dad and shit. He had to force Lip to remove the nicotine packs so he didn’t fucking kill himself or something. 

He’s pretty sure one could die from having too many nicotine packs on them.

Who knows. 

He likes how quiet the house is for once, not really questioning where the hell the other Gallagher siblings are. After Fiona had moved out, _finally_ escaping to live her own life after raising her siblings for twenty years, Debbie seemed to have taken over the house and forced everybody to pull their own weight. Carl got his job back at that pirate place Mickey never goes to because the manager there is fucking creepy, Debbie works as a welder and makes decent money, and even Liam is bringing money home every once and a while. Probably from stealing. He’s only ten. 

Ian is still in prison, serving a few years after blowing up a fucking van during that whole Gay Jesus bullshit. He got his head on straight, thank God. Maybe, just maybe, Ian can fix things between him and Trevor after he gets out. Mickey calls Trevor every few weeks to make sure he and his teens are still okay. 

He should probably go see Ian soon. 

He sets down the bags of fast food burgers on the kitchen counter, adjusting his bag over his shoulder and heading upstairs to fetch Lip. He left while Lip was running Fred a bath so hopefully, he got the kid all cleaned up and put to bed by now. 

However, when he hears soft sobbing coming from the upstairs bathroom, he’s shocked to find Lip sitting naked on the bathroom floor with Fred in his arms, face pressing against his tiny head and face twisted as he cries. Mickey tosses his bag into Lip’s room, slowly inching his way into the bathroom. “Lip?”

Lip looks up at him, eyes glossy and red. His breath hitches and he squeezes his eyes shut again. “I-I almost dropped him…” 

Mickey’s gaze softens, kneeling down next to him. “What happened?”

“I was climbing out cause he pooped and I fucking slipped…” Lip whispers, hands shaking around Fred. “I wanted to catch myself, but I was holding him and…” 

Mickey sets a hand on his back, ducking his head a bit to look at Fred’s face. The kid looks back at him, eyes big and blue and innocent. He’s not even fussing. “He’s okay, Lip. You didn’t drop him. He’s okay.” Lip sniffs and nods slowly. Mickey smiles sadly and holds his hands out. “C’mon, give him to me. I’ll clean him up.” 

Lip looks at him thankfully, handing Fred over carefully. While Mickey takes him out to clean him up and put him back in a diaper and onesie, Lip cleans himself up and empties the bathtub, and wipes the water off of the floor so no one else slips. He comes back into the bedroom to find Mickey rocking Fred in his arms, humming softly to him and rubbing his back gently. Lip smiles a bit, watching Fred’s eyes flutter shut. 

“A Milkovich rocking a baby to sleep? Such a rare sight,” he whispers, walking up behind Mickey. His boyfriend rolls his eyes, walking over to the bassinet Lip managed to put together after a few hours of struggling. “You’re strangely good at this…”

“I did raise Yev,” Mickey murmurs, carefully laying the baby down in the bassinet. “Fred is a fucking cakewalk compared to that little shit.” 

Lip tilts his head, watching the two with a soft smile. It’s such a beautiful sight to him, watching Mickey, the man he just might spend the rest of his life with, take care of his baby as if he were his own as well. Lip wonders if, maybe, one day, _if_ they get married, they could have another baby. Maybe adoption? Lip always wanted a big family of his own, raising them better than his deadbeat parents ever did. 

“You’re a fucking angel,” Lip breathes out when Mickey backs away from the sleeping baby, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and kissing his neck. “Thank you for today…”

Mickey turns in his arms, cupping his face and kissing him. “C’mon, you need to rest. I’ll help you when Fred decides to wake us up at five in the morning,” he grins, rubbing his thumbs over the dark circles under Lip’s eyes. 

Lip leans into his hands and sighs. “Sounds great…”

Mickey takes his hands and leads him to the bed, the two shucking off their jeans and shirts before crawling into Lip’s bed. Mickey doesn’t complain for once when Lip wraps his arms around him and pulls him against his chest, spooning him and nuzzling the back of his neck. Mickey sighs and intertwines his fingers with Lip’s, kissing the back of his hand. “Get some sleep, ‘kay?”

“Mkay,” Lip mumbles into his neck, squeezing his hand and pulling him closer. 

He’s snoring hardly a minute later. 

Fred wakes them up twice that night. The first time Mickey helped Lip figure out what was wrong - he was hungry and needed a change - and rock him back to sleep. The second time, Mickey supervised from the bed as Lip fixed whatever issues Fred was having at that moment and coaxed him back to sleep. Mickey slipped back to sleep before Lip came back to bed. 

They’re rudely woken up again by Debbie just two hours later. Lip mutters angrily and tells Mickey to go back to sleep before peering over at Fred to make sure he didn’t wake up as well. Mickey sighs tiredly and buries himself back into the sheets, not giving a flying fuck what Debbie is going on about this time. 

He later finds out she gave the whole family ATM cards. Guess she decided to stop being a controlling bitch and share the money Fiona gave _all_ of them. Mickey wonders if his threats to contact Fiona himself got through to her. 

“Hey, I’m gonna take Fred out for some air and run a few errands,” Lip tells Mickey as he bundles Fred up in a clean onesie. 

Mickey grunts, rolling onto his side. “How long will you be out?”

“Few hours,” Lip shrugs. “You gonna sleep the whole time?”

“Nah,” Mickey sighs, but he doesn’t sit up. “I’ll get up eventually.”

Lip chuckles, leaving Fred in the bassinet for a moment to lean down and peck Mickey’s lips. Mickey hums sleepily, tilting his head up to kiss him more. Lip cups his jaw and pulls back, his exhausted gaze just a little brighter than before. “Love you.”

Mickey smiles. “Love you too. See you later.”

“See you.”

When Mickey gets up two hours later, he checks the visiting hours for the prison and heads down that way to go visit Ian. It’s been a bit anyway. 

They grew a bit distant when Ian started the whole Gay Jesus movement as Mickey found the whole thing absolutely ridiculous. He was cool with it at first, Ian helping Trevor get teens out of abusive households and spread a message of love, but then it just got too crazy, got too carried away. Mickey showed his displeasure and it put a damper on their relationship, so Mickey backed off so their friendship wouldn’t be completely ruined. He ended up becoming Trevor’s shoulder to lean on as this whole thing was and did ruin their relationship. 

After the whole van incident, Ian seemed to come to his senses after getting out of jail. He took Fiona’s advice and pleaded insanity on the count he wasn’t taking his medication, and Mickey’s pretty sure it’s not even a lie. Ian still has a hard time accepting his disorder. 

When Ian was officially sentenced to prison, the two finally spent some time together again, which is exactly what Mickey needed as he and Lip decided not long before to go on a break. Ian apologized for everything that happened and Mickey forgave him, cracked a few beers with him, and offered a few tips on how to handle assholes in prison. It was nice. 

When Tami was first found out to be knocked up, Mickey wasn’t entirely sure what to think of it. No, he didn’t give a shit Lip fucked a chick since Mickey had sex with other dudes while on their break - and he honestly regrets it with how awful they were - but the fact a child is brought into the equation scared Mickey. He was afraid Lip would leave him for good to raise this kid with this stranger he forgot to fuck with a condom. He vented his fears to Ian when he visited him and Ian assured him Lip is head over heels for him, that he shouldn’t worry, that the most Lip will do is provide support for the child. It did help. 

And it did happen that way. He and Lip sat down one night when Tami finally made her decision to keep the child, discussing how they’ll move forward with this. Just like Ian said, Lip assured him he’s stuck with him, that he’ll help Tami with the kid but nothing more, that Mickey is going to be a part of this as well just like when Svetlana got knocked up by Mickey. 

Everything really did work out as Ian said. 

“Hey, man,” Ian grins when he sits down across from Mickey outside in the courtyard. “Remember I exist?”

“Shut up,” Mickey rolls his eyes. “Been caught up with some shit.”

“Like?”

Mickey smiles. “Lip’s kid was born.”

Ian’s eyes widen. “No shit? 

“Yeah, a boy,” Mickey pulls out his phone, pulling up his gallery to show off the few pictures he took of Lip and Fred. “Named him Freddie.” 

Ian’s smile is huge as he looks at the picture, eyes practically glowing at the sight of his nephew. “Wow…” 

“Little shit is driving Lip up the wall,” Mickey chuckles. “Guess he didn’t realize sleep is basically non-existent with a newborn.”

Ian grins. “Helping him out?”

“Duh,” Mickey huffs, taking his phone back. “Apparently he wants to stop smoking but he’s doing a shit job at it.”

“And you’re surprised?”

“Nope.”

Ian chuckles, his eyes turning downcast. Mickey can see the way his expression falls just a tad, his face slipping enough to show he’s upset about something. 

Mickey and Ian have been best friends for years. Fiona - who apparently saw right through Mickey’s straight act - thought they were dating for the longest time with how attached they were. Ian was the first to know about Mickey’s crush on his older brother and was the first to know Lip was bisexual in the first place. After that discovery, Ian _somehow_ got them two together that he fully takes credit for any chance he gets. Dick. 

Ian was Mickey’s shoulder to lean on, practically another brother to him who understood his troubles and fears. Ian was there when Mickey came out to his father in the middle of the Alibi, rushing to his aid when Terry got Mickey to the floor and punched the shit out of him. It was right before Ian fell into a low state, his Bipolarism coming to light fully. 

Mickey was there for him when this happened. He went as far as to move Ian into the Milkovich home now that Terry wasn’t there, giving his best friend as much support as he could offer. He knew, deep down, Ian was thankful. He knows him. 

Ian can read Mickey like a book, which sucked whenever Mickey tried to push his troubles down because talking about his feelings was “being a pussy” in his father’s eyes. Ian helped him as much as Lip did when it came to his inner homophobia, helped him overcome that, and announce in the Alibi “I’m fucking gay!”

Just like Ian, Mickey can read Ian like a book. Ian was shit at hiding his emotions, though Mickey can see he’s gotten better at it, especially around his siblings. Ian usually hid behind anger now, just like Mickey does. But Mickey knows him - he can see what’s going on in that head of his. 

Right now, he knows Ian regrets blowing up that van, regrets going off his meds and going too far with the Gay Jesus act, regrets hurting everyone, and ending up in prison away from his family. It’s already been eight months and he’s missed so much. 

So Mickey, without a word, pulls up FaceTime to video call Lip. He knows he’s awake and knows he’s with Fred - like hell Lip will separate from his kid after last night - so now he just has to keep calling until the asshole picks up. He does after two rings. 

“Hey, Mick, what’s up?” Ian looks up in surprise at hearing his brother’s voice, looking at Mickey in confusion. 

Mickey hums and hands Ian the phone, the redhead taking it in disbelief. “Hello?”

“Oh, Ian!” Lip sounds surprised. “How the hell did Mickey- hey, asshole! Why didn’t you tell me you were visiting Ian?”

Mickey rolls his eyes. “Fuck off!”

Ian chuckles, unable to fight back his grin. “Can I see the baby?”

“Oh, sure! Yeah- hold on, lemme just…” Mickey moves to sit next to Ian, watching Lip lean his phone against something before he reaches into the carrier for Fred. Mickey recognizes Lip is at Patsy’s and can hear Brad saying something in the background. He hears Cami as well and resists rolling his eyes. He’s still not sure how he feels about her. “Here he is,” Lip grins, sitting Fred down on his lap. “Eight pounds, eight ounces. This is Fred.”

Ian’s grin is full of pure joy, eyes indeed glowing as he stares at the phone, completely in awe at seeing his nephew. “Fred, hey!” he breathes out, waving slightly with his free hand. “I’m your Uncle Ian.” Mickey smiles at his words, tilting his head a bit to see the screen better. Fred’s big blue eyes stare at Ian curiously which only makes Ian’s smile widen. “Lip, you have a son…”

Lip grins, looking down at Fred happily. “Yeah, I do. Fuck…”

“Hey, buddy,” Ian whispers. 

Mickey watches the exchange silently, happy to see the pure joy on Ian’s face. It’s been a while since he’s seen that expression. It’s nice. 

They talk until his visiting time is over. Mickey shuts off FaceTime after telling Lip he’ll see him later tonight, hugging Ian tightly and promising he’ll come and see him soon. Ian threatens to punch him if he doesn’t. Mickey promises he’ll end up in prison when he’s done with him. It’s been a while since they bantered like this. 

“Who is it?!” Iggy shouts from the kitchen when there’s a knock at the front door, slightly annoyed at having a visitor so late. 

“It’s Lip!” Mickey pokes his head out of his room, eyebrows raised in surprise. He finishes pulling on his jacket, just moments away from heading over to the Gallagher’s house, and unlocks the front door. Lip smiles tiredly, baby carrier in one hand and the other gripping the bag strap over his shoulder. “Hey.”

“The hell you doing here?” Mickey asks. “I was about to head over.”

“Oh, you don’t wanna be there,” Lip huffs, his annoyance seeping through. “Frank is throwing a huge fucking party.”

“Oh,” Mickey nods, now understanding. Fucking Frank. “Guess we’re staying here tonight?”

“If that’s cool?” Lip asks, a bit hopeful. 

“Sure,” Mickey holds out a hand, taking the bag from him. He closes and locks the door behind Lip, moving past him to set the bag in his room. When he comes back out, he rolls his eyes when he finds his older brothers around Lip, cooing down at the baby excitedly. 

“Name’s Fred,” Lip tells them, grinning a bit. Iggy and Colin grin, talking absolute gibberish to the baby staring up at them. Mickey always wondered how Terry would react to seeing the two eldest siblings falling to pieces over the sight of a baby - first Yevgeny and now Fred. 

He manages to pull Lip to his bedroom, shutting the door and shooting Lip a bemused smile. “What’s Frank partying about?”

“I don’t even know,” Lip sighs, setting the carrier down. “Don’t care.”

Fred is easy to take care of tonight. Mickey - thankful Lip dropped the fake boob shit for bottles - feeds Fred while Lip digs out a clean onesie and diaper and changes out of his clothes. Once they get him all changed and wrapped up in a small blanket, Lip rocks the baby to sleep, much quicker than the night before. Since they don’t have a bassinet, Mickey gets Iggy to go to the attic to dig out Yevgeny’s old crib. They take a bit to clean it up before they put Fred in it, who is already fast asleep in Lip’s arms. 

Mickey is only able to pull off his jeans before Lip yanks him into bed, pressing his back into the bed and kissing him. Mickey hums at the softness behind it, reaching up to hold the back of his neck as their lips move together slowly, not at all rushed. 

“It’s quiet here,” Lip murmurs against his lips, trailing his hands down to hold his waist. 

“It’s usually not,” Mickey mumbles, tilting his head back when Lip presses gentle kisses down his neck. “Especially when Terry is home.”

“He’s in prison, right?”

“Mhm,” Mickey hums, sighing softly in content when Lip sucks at the skin under his jaw. “Don’t start something you can’t finish, Gallagher.”

Lip chuckles, trailing back up to his lips and kissing him gently. “Miss this…”

“It’s not gone,” Mickey chuckles. “Once Tami is better and can take Fred for some nights, we’ll have more time alone.”

Lip grunts. “True… not sure I’m ready to have him out of my sight.”

“You’ll become desperate for alone time, trust me,” Mickey grins, pecking his lips. “Come on, let’s sleep while we can.”

Lip hums, wrapping an arm around his waist and rolling them, making Mickey laugh softly as he ends up lying on top of the Gallagher. Lip pecks his lips one last time before pushing Mickey’s head down, making the Milkovich huff as he gets comfortable. He nuzzles his neck and wraps his arms around his shoulders, legs framing Lip’s left leg comfortably. Lip wraps his arms around his waist, tracing shapes along his lower back. Mickey sighs softly. “You’re comfortable.”

“Good,” Lip murmurs, tilting his head down to kiss his temple. “I love you, Mick.”

Mickey smiles against his neck. “Love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> This prompt was requested by human being "can u write about mickey helping lip with fred" 
> 
> As always, I appreciate all prompts and kudos and will continue working on more prompts, old and new!


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